Mistakes of Neglect
by Jiemme
Summary: After forgetting Risa's birthday, Otani secretly felt traumatized and considered himself lucky; it was the second time he committed that mistake that caused his heartbreak years ago, and their outcomes differed by sake of love.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Lovely Complex. If I did, then that means I have better art skills that would blow away my stickman drawings. Loljk, I can draw well, but yeah. XD 'nyways, I don't own Lovely Complex, period.

**A/N: **I wrote this a long time ago. Like, 6 months ago? I just didn't put it up here coz it's really angsty and stuff. But since I have, dare I say it, writer's block for my multi-chaptered fic, _It's Best After the Worst_, I really had to put this up because I feel soooo guilty about it. My Kingdom Hearts obsession probably caused this, but don't hate that fandom! I love it to bits and I managed to improve my writing skills because of KH and writing KH fics. Anyways, this story takes place in the last chapter of Lovely Complex Plus, where they were going to different universities and Otani forgot Risa's birthday. I got quite depressed about it (I mean, what girl would be happy that her boyfriend forgot her birthday? I'd punch the living daylights out of the guy if that ever happened to me...) and I wrote this, as Otani's point of view while he bought the bouquet of roses for Risa to make up for his mistake. I just noticed that Otani and Kanzaki broke up because Otani took her for granted, and forgetting Risa's birthday is sort of the same. I hope you guys like this fic. Please R&R! :)

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><p><strong>Mistakes of Neglect<strong>

_Summary:_ After forgetting Risa's birthday, Otani secretly felt traumatized and considered himself lucky; it was the second time he committed that mistake that caused his heartbreak years ago, and their outcomes differed by sake of love.

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><p>"<em>How could you forget her birthday at a time like this?"<em>

"_Yeah. How could you, __**CHAPPI**__?"_

An auburn-haired boy, slightly short for his age, rolled his chocolate-colored eyes as he walked outside a flower shop, holding a bouquet of roses. He detested being called Chappi. It wasn't an appropriate nickname for him; heck, it wasn't close to his real name. How would Chappi be derived from Atsushi Otani? Otani believed any explanation for an answer to that question would be null and void – Chappi wasn't him. And that accursed nickname caused the first part of his day's misfortune.

He clutched the bouquet as he walked across a pedestrian lane. It was his only chance to right his wrong. He sighed and watched the sun slowly cascade downwards and closer to the sea. He didn't want to end up brokenhearted again. Not now. Especially since he was deeply in love with his current girlfriend, whom he silently wished would forever be with him.

At first, the day seemed perfect. He had a free day from his part-time job and was glad he asked his girlfriend, Risa Koizumi, out. He missed hanging out with her; they separated ways after high school, but grabbed chances of them to see each other. The sight of Koizumi's red hair, beaming brown eyes, and cheerful expression made his heart skip a beat – she looked as angelic as ever. He didn't care of their height difference – it was the love that counts. They immediately attacked the sea with their inflated friends, the beach ball and the inflatable ring. It was also the reunion of their gang. Nobuko Ishihara flew from Hokkaido to enjoy her vacation with them, especially Heikichi Nakao, her boyfriend and Otani's best friend. Chiharu Tanaka and Ryoji Suzuki turned up as well, completing their group. Seiko and Haruka turned up as well, and Otani was relieved Haruka didn't say anything unruly about planning to win Risa over from Otani.

They spotted Maity and his wife, Jody, as well. It was the perfect getaway. It definitely was, until one of his college colleagues turned up.

"_Chappi? It really is you!"_

It wasn't bad to see them, but hearing their chants on his unwanted nickname bothered him. And even though he didn't admit it, he knew Koizumi was annoyed. And then she found out he never bothered to tell them he had a girlfriend.

It was the worst move he made in university.

At that point, the thought of him not caring for her may have crossed her mind. Then he continued saying the wrong things.

"_What does it matter what I call her?"_

"_Wa? You? You don't call me by that usually…"_

"_It's not Ochappi! It's Chappi!"_

"_I never said I didn't have one!"_

"_IDIOT!"_

Thinking of his words made him shake his head furiously. He felt stupid. It wasn't wrong for Koizumi to call him by his first name. He wasn't used to it, but it was better than Chappi.

And when Kohori entered the scene with a plate of omelet rice in replacement for a birthday cake, he managed to hit rock bottom.

"_**Today is Koizumi's birthday?**__"_

She tried to hide her dismay in a very dismal way. He saw through her "don't bother" façade and was pulled away by ear by Nobuko and Nakao. They explained to him about Koizumi's troubles in her university as a final blow to drown him in guilt. It bothered him even more that she didn't tell him about her problems. But they were fair, since he committed more faults that pained her.

With all his errors as a boyfriend, there was a possibility she'd break up with him.

And with the excruciating realization, Otani ran.

He held the bouquet of roses with care and avoided hitting it with anything as he paced quickly down the sidewalk until he could reach the shoreline where they planned to celebrate their reunion.

"_I won't let that happen again… wait for me, Koizumi. Please."_

He shook his head as the distressing memory of his past romance ending flashed in his mind again. After months of earning money by himself, he managed to score two tickets to his first concert experience of Umibouzu. Two… because he hoped to watch with Mayu Kanzaki, his beloved at that time, who had a striking resemblance to Chiharu. She apologized to him and confessed she liked another boy, leaving him heartbroken.

He blamed himself the entire way to the concert. From a previous day, Nobuko asked Nakao why Otani seemed depressed despite being able to pass junior high. Nakao explained that Kanzaki broke up with him because of neglecting her after becoming a regular in basketball. It wasn't his fault for being engrossed in an activity involving his favorite sport, but it was to the extent he forgot his girlfriend. After Nakao described to Nobuko about Otani's heartbreak, he snapped at him.

"_If you knew that, you should have said something!"_

But Nobuko slapped him into reality with her words.

"_As a boyfriend, you should have noticed that."_

And sadly, it was the truth.

An agonizing feeling burned in his chest when he realized he repeated it again. Majority of his actions in university and being enthralled with new friends and experiences caused him to unconsciously neglect Koizumi. He knew that if he didn't neglect her, he would have told his university friends that he had a girlfriend wholeheartedly and on purpose. If he didn't neglect her, he would have used his earnings in his part-time job to buy her something special. If he didn't neglect her, he wouldn't have forgotten her birthday in the first place. He failed once again to notice his actions as a boyfriend.

He finally arrived at the beach and caught sight of his friends playing together with firework sticks.

"_One… two… three… four… where is she?"_

Their distant figures danced energetically by the shoreline. Koizumi wasn't with them. He panicked; if she left, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. But the sight of wisps of red hair being carried by the wind gave him hope. He walked slowly towards her, only to pause for a moment and feel his heart squeeze.

She was crying again.

It surprised him. Although he stood in a fair distance from her, her tears were visible. She was sitting on the higher steps of the concrete pavement with a broken heart, ripping Otani's as well. Every cascading tear caused his heart to sink. He shook his head as she shut her eyes, more tears flowing out of it. He couldn't take it anymore; his hand managed to sweep the bouquet into hitting her head.

"Ah! Ouch!"

Her head slowly turned, revealing her tear-filled eyes. Otani extended the bouquet to her, flustered as he did so.

"Happy birthday."

He tossed the bouquet into her arms, hoping it was enough. He quickly sat beside her after the rustling sound of the bouquet flying vanished. It safely fell into Koizumi's loving grasp.

"…what is this?" she asked.

Otani, still flustered, lowered his head as he gave an answer. "I went and bought it just now."

"…roses?"

"…" Why roses anyway? It wasn't his style to present her with a bunch of flowers.

"Last time when you saw a guy giving a girl flowers, you were staring like an idiot. So I went and bought that," he replied. "This isn't my style."

The memory was still fresh in his mind. After spending a day together with karaoke as their main activity, they walked home together only for him to watch her happily staring at a man giving a bunch of flowers for, most likely, his girlfriend. Her eyes gleamed as a dreamy expression etched on her face. He knew that look – she adored romantic things.

Silence circled around them. Koizumi was simply staring at the bouquet of roses with a tint of pink blush showing. He wanted to break it to the extent of thinking of the right words to say. If he continued with another mistake, giving her roses may be the last romantic thing he would've done for her.

"Sorry for forgetting your birthday."

Koizumi didn't respond. Otani felt his heart pound in his chest. Now what? He deeply wished she wouldn't break up with him.

"It's alright."

Silence.

"Thank you," she added.

More silence.

"I thought you went to look for your university friends," she told him.

"Why would I do that?" he asked. She didn't reply. He didn't care about his university friends at the moment. There was no reason he should, especially since the day was for him to reunite with his best friends from high school.

"Oi… why didn't you tell me about what was going on in school?" he asked. He was curious about her reasons on why she didn't tell him. It made him feel untrustworthy once again.

"Eh?"

"Nobu-chan told me already," he added, hoping to shed some light to her one-word response.

"Ahh…"

She stared off at the distance and turned her head away from Otani before continuing.

"…because… because… you look really busy… really happy…"

He scoffed in disbelief. "That has nothing to do with it, right? You could have told me when we met, right?"

"We only see each other once in a while… it'll be a waste to spend the time complaining…" Guilt slowly clouded his conscience. Was that the real reason? On the other hand, it would be nicer for him to ask instead of expect her to tell him on purpose. It would pain her to explain her problems to him, of course.

He involuntarily smacked her head downwards. "Idiot."

Her eyes filled with more tears. "I know! If you have anything to say, let it all out! I'll listen to all of it!" he told her.

More silence.

"Cha… Chappi…"

"Ah?" He scoffed at the nickname. He couldn't believe she caught on with calling him that as well.

"Otani is called Otani… not that disgusting name," she finished. He smiled inwardly.

"You got that right."

"Does that girl like Otani?" she asked, her voice cracking. After all this time, she remained jealous. Otani felt his heartstrings tug. He missed seeing her jealous.

"No! She already has a boyfriend!" he replied. Despite having her jealous, he was sickened at the thought of his university friend fancying him.

"And? What else?" he asked.

"I don't have you enough! I want to see more of you!" she blurted out, her sobs increasing.

He felt his face heating up. "Ah, no problem! Leave that to me!"

Finally, he found the courage to stand up and face the world again. She didn't break up with him after all. His tense grip finally loosened as he exhaled in relief.

"That's all?"

No reply. Koizumi busily wiped away her own tears.

"Alright, let's play with the fireworks now!" he exclaimed.

"No… my face is a mess now. I can't go over there," she said, sniffing between words. Otani turned around to face her. In his eyes, she didn't look like a mess. But he had to say something in-character to avoid getting flustered. He couldn't give her a compliment without blushing first.

"It's not like your face being a mess is something new," he said. She glared at him.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?"

Otani slapped himself mentally. Maybe he did go a little farther than expected. He was lucky they just reconciled, or he was definitely turning single at the end of their reunion.

"It's fine! Let's go."

"Ah! Otani-kun! Risa!" Nobuko called from the distance.

"The fireworks are about to be used up!" Nakao added.

"Let's go, Koizumi!" he shouted. She was still wiping tears from her eyes, clutching his present to her while at it.

"No, I can't."

He rolled his eyes. Even though he made tons of mistakes to her, he still felt annoyed that she wouldn't let it go that quickly.

"Koizumi!"

"Forget about me. Just go ahead!" she insisted.

He exhaled in frustration. He really wanted to spend his precious time with her.

"Risa."

Her sniffling faded. Otani did the unthinkable – he called her by her personal name. It felt unnatural to him, causing his cheeks to turn red.

"…eh?"

He faced her once again. "Hurry, let's go."

"Just now… what did you say?"

Otani's entire face turned tomato red. "**That's enough! Hurry up!**"

"But you said…"

"**SHUT UP!**"

"One more time!"

"**What? There won't be another time!**"

"One more time!"

"**No!**"

After minutes of playing with fireworks, Otani was at ease seeing Koizumi smiling genuinely once again. They were finally laughing together. It was the most natural thing in his world at the moment.

"I wish we bought more fireworks!" Nobuko stated.

"I think Haruka brought some more, but he's at one of the farthest points of the beach!" Chiharu replied.

"We should get them!" Koizumi suggested.

"Let's go then!"

"Hey, I'll co…" Otani was quickly cut off by Nakao. The taller, brown-haired boy pulled him to one of the large umbrella covers with Suzuki.

"What was that for? We can't just leave the girls!" he snapped.

"Maity-sensei's going to guide them, Otani-kun," Suzuki replied calmly.

"But…"

"No buts. Nobu-chan specifically told me to talk to you," Nakao told him.

"It's a pretty stupid move to forget Koizumi-san's birthday," Suzuki began.

Otani rolled his eyes. At times, he felt flabbergasted by his friends thinking he was too dense to realize the most obvious of things.

"What about it?" he barked.

"You're lucky this time. Remember the last time you neglected one of your girlfriends?" Nakao asked.

"Wait, before you answer… how many girlfriends did you have, Otani-kun? I know Risa-chan's one… so you actually had a girlfriend before her?" Suzuki questioned.

"Can we please just stop?" Otani barked. "I'm not an idiot to be oblivious to my own wrongdoings!"

"You're still an idiot for repeating it," Nakao said. "You know, he managed to neglect Kanzaki-san when they were dating just because he was a basketball regular, Suzuki-kun. Imagine now, just because he saw his university friends and found a part-time job, he managed to neglect his girlfriend again. How inconsiderate."

"Nobu-chan told you to tell me that, right?" Otani asked. Nakao nodded for an answer. "Of course. She told me to "slap some sense" into you. Isn't she considerate? Mostly for Koizumi-san anyway. She shouted at us just because she couldn't believe that you were able to hurt Risa-chan even though we're already studying in college!"

"And forgetting her birthday… that's just low. In my understanding, her birthday is also your anniversary, since that was the day you two became more than friends," Suzuki added.

"Wow! That's right! If Nobu-chan finds out…"

"She knows, Nakao-chi."

Otani exhaled in guilt. Suzuki was right; he finally kissed her at her birthday last year, showing her his true feelings. It was the sweetest memory that he continuously recalls whenever he needed motivation. And he managed to blow it the year afterwards.

"I guess I'm lucky that she didn't break up with me… like how Kanzaki did," he said.

"Koizumi-san loves you very much. She was actually panicking. She thought you were going to break up with her," Suzuki said.

"Yeah. She was really bothered," Nakao added.

"Fat chance I'll ever do that."

The faint sound of footsteps crushing sand instantly caught Otani's attention. Shadowy figures emerged from the distance, revealing the girls with a bag of fireworks.

"Hey! Guys!" Nobuko shouted.

"We got them!" Chiharu added.

"We've got more!" Koizumi exclaimed.

Otani let out a wide grin. "I think I should take her out tomorrow… to say sorry properly."

"You better!" Nakao said, giving him and Suzuki high-fives. "Besides, Nobu-chan and I were planning to have a day alone with each other."

"Tanaka-san and I as well," Suzuki said.

"Well then, I guess I have to make it even more special. I made a lot of mistakes… and I don't want to cross the line again."

His heart fluttered as Koizumi walked towards him and grabbed him by the arm, giving him a firework stick. She did her best to make him smile. And that's what he loved best about her. For the sake of his love for her, he vowed to himself that he would never make that mistake again. Especially because losing her would become his biggest mistake and regret. It would be the death of him.

"Otani!"

Her laughter that came afterwards repeated over and over in his head as he twirled her fingers when they joined hands. The moon perched on the sky brought smiles on their faces, and he took the chance to kiss her once again.

He just loves her a little too much, and forever will.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I hope this fic is alright. A oneshot to make up for not updating my multi-chaptered Lovely Complex fic. I'm gonna work on it as soon as I get more ideas and inspiration for it. But for now, here's this fic! I hope you guys like it! Please R&R, and thanks for reading! :D


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